Valuing in Mathematics Learning Amongst Ghanaian Students: What Does It Look Like Across Grade Levels (original) (raw)
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School mathematics education through the eyes of students in Ghana: Extrinsic and intrinsic valuing
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1256 students from 18 primary and secondary public schools across urban and rural settings in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana responded to the "What I Find Important (in my mathematics learning)" questionnaire. The data analysed suggested that students in Ghana valued in their mathematics learning: achievement, relevance, fluency, authority, ICT, versatility, learning environment, strategies, feedback, communication, fun, connections, engagement, applications, and accuracy. The students' embracing of these attributes is explained by reflecting on the societal and pedagogical norms in Ghana. When compared to high performing economies in East Asia, it was found that most of the Ghanaian attributes represent extrinsic (versus intrinsic) valuing. Implications and suggestions for policy-making and for classroom teachers are provided. Students value attributes of mathematics learning (e.g. practice and understanding) differently, with implications for the quality of mathe...
The attributes of mathematics learning which Ghanaian senior high school students value
Journal of Global Education and Research, 2021
Valuing constitutes an important aspect of mathematics pedagogy and hence student learning outcomes. This study surveyed 416 students from Cape Coast, Ghana to explore what senior high school students in this country in West Africa valued in their study of mathematics. The data collected were analyzed using principal component analysis. The results suggest that Ghanaian senior high school students found connections, understanding, fluency, learning technologies, feedback, instructional materials, open-endedness and problem-solving important in their mathematics learning. Implications of the findings for curriculum delivery in mathematics and future research opportunities are also discussed.
The values learners consider as important in the learning of mathematics
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Learners have different values that could affect their learning and eventually their performance in mathematics. However, many teachers are unaware of these values. Therefore, this paper reports on a study that established the values learners consider as important in the learning of mathematics. The participants were 274 Grade 9 learners, selected purposively from one school in Gauteng, South Africa. An exploratory quantitative research method was adopted and data were collected with a standardised questionnaire developed by Seah (2011b). The results revealed that learners value 1) Hard work and effort when doing mathematics; 2) Numerous different methods to obtain the answer to a mathematics problem; 3) Authentic examples of shapes to understand their properties; 4) Demonstration and explanation of mathematics concepts and proofs; and 5) Teaching and explaining mathematical concepts. This paper highlights the values teachers should consider in the teaching and learning of mathematics in order to ensure better learner performance in mathematics. Furthermore, the paper adds to research on values in Mathematics Education within a South African context.
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The relevance of students’ academic interest in mathematics is of great concern to stakeholders in education. The present study models students’ interest in mathematics (SIM) using mathematics facility (MF), mathematics connection (MC), teacher motivation (TM) as well as instructor quality and availability (IQA). The study randomly selected 1500 students from 10 senior high schools from the Ashanti region of Ghana; however, 1,263 of the participants fully participated in the study. These participants were made to respond to validated self-administered questionnaires with alpha-reliability of 0.74, 0.69, 0.70, 0.699 and 0.68 for SIM, MC, MF, IQA and TM respectively. Findings from the study showed that MC, MF, IQA and TM explain 71.6% of the variance in students’ interest in mathematics. The study further found that approximately 15% of variability in teachers’ ability to connect mathematics to real life problems is attributable to availability of mathematics facility as well as instr...
The purpose of this study was to examine Private and Public Junior High School (JHS) students' attitude towards mathematics in the East Mamprusi District. Studens' Attitudes Towards Mathematics (SATM) questionnaire with reliability coefficient (Cronbach alpha value) of 0.83 was used to collect data on 200 sampled students (Boys = 105, Girls = 95) from 8 public and private Junior High Schools in the study area. Principal component factor analyses were performed using Varimax rotation to capture Eigen values greater than 1, eliminate factors with loadings less than 0.4, and remove items with non-simple factor structure. Four subscales were identified as Anxiety, Confidence, Enjoyment, and Benefit/Value. Data collected were analysed using Means and Standard Deviations. t-test was also used to investigate whether there was significant difference between private and public JHS students' attitude towards mathematics. The results found no significant difference between the attitudes of both private and public JHS students towards mathematics. The results also showed a slightly high degree of confidence in favour of private students towards the learning of mathematics. The findings of the study in terms of gender difference towards mathematics revealed that boys and girls, irrespective of either private or public school, in the study area generally had similar attitude towards mathematics.
International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 2014
The teaching and learning methods used in mathematics classrooms are increasingly being questioned for their effectiveness. In view of this, the mathematics curriculum in Ghana like in most other countries has undergone a number of restructuring with the aim of improving the teaching and learning of the subject. This paper aims to discuss issues related to mathematics education in Ghana. The paper begins with a historical overview of the Ghanaian Junior High School (JHS) mathematics curriculum. It provides an analysis of the restructuring JHS curriculum under the two broad theoretical backgrounds in mathematics education: behaviourism and constructivism. Analysis of the JHS curriculum and other research work suggest that the role of the teacher in mathematics classroom goes beyond acting as a facilitator in the teaching and learning process and students still rely on the teacher as their main source of knowledge acquisition. The authors take the position that mathematics education at the JHS level and in Ghana as a whole must redefine its goals and theoretical background; where the teacher and the student play an active role in the teaching and learning process. In view of this, the authors propose the enactivist theory, which advocates for partnership between teachers and students in the classroom, as the new paradigm for teaching and learning that must be considered within the Ghanaian context.
The study aimed to investigate perception and interest on Senior High School student's achievement in mathematics. Three public Senior High Schools in the Adansi North District were selected and analyzed using a quantitative technique. The research study employed Constructivism and Theory of Planned behavior (TPB) frameworks. The study involved three hundred (300) Form three (3) students, with hundred (100) students from each school. Primary data was collected through questionnaires and employed descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that various factors contribute to students' perceptions in mathematics, including self-confidence, interest, teacher motivation, subject difficulty, myths, and perceived usefulness. Students' perceptions were formed by themselves, peers, and past educational experiences. The majority of students' interest in maths was getting a passing score. The study found a statistically significant negative correlation between students' perception and their interest. It is recommended that teachers build students' confidence, provide more examples, exercises, and assignments for practice. It also called for educators, parents, peers, and society to help students develop positive attitudes towards mathematics from the beginning of their education. There is also the need for educators to be abreast with the Theory of Planned Behavior in order to address students' behavior. The study limited itself to three hundred (300) students, quantitative approach was adopted and the instrument used was a questionnaire. Although, Adansi North and the student's population in the schools are heterogeneous, there is limitation to the degree of generalizability of the findings. Subsequent investigations should priorities the examination of alternative geographical areas in order to augment the applicability and generalizability of the research outcomes. Additionally, it is imperative to incorporate other methodologies, like the mixed methods or qualitative approaches, in order to delve deeper into the correlation between students' mathematical perceptions and interest on their academic achievement in different settings.
Improving Mathematics Pedagogy Through Student/Teacher Valuing: Lessons from Five Continents
Invited Lectures from the 13th International Congress on Mathematical Education
This chapter focuses on the construct of values/valuing, using the findings of the large-scale, 'What I Find Important (in mathematics learning)' [WIFI] study to explore how values/valuing promotes effective (mathematics) pedagogy. The analysis of some 16,000 questionnaires collected from 19 economies reveals the absence of any relationship between values and specific actions, suggesting that the actions that reflect what are being valued are culturally-dependent. Students in economies which perform well in the PISA assessments were also found to value connections, understanding, communication, and recall in their mathematics learning, whereas their peers at the other end of the league table appeared to value relevance and practice more. The notion of intrinsic and extrinsic valuing will be discussed. In acknowledging the presence of value differences and conflicts that arise from inter-personal interactions in mathematics lessons, teachers' capacity to engage with values alignment is highlighted.
Socio-cultural factors: a missing variable in mathematics pedagogy in Ghana
Ghana Journal of Education: Issues and Practice (GJE), 2016
This study draws on theories relating to the local aspects of mathematical knowledge and to mathematics pedagogy to explore how the teaching and learning activities carried out in mathematics classrooms in Ghana deal with these aspects. It focussed on the teaching of measurement of money at the primary school level. The primary school level was considered in this study because it is during this period of time that pupils develop the foundation for learning mathematics at higher grade levels. The current Ghanaian primary school mathematics curriculum, three of the popular primary school mathematics textbooks, and lessons from two experienced primary school teachers constituted the main sources of data for the study. The data collected were analysed qualitatively and presented as narrative description with some illustrative examples. The study revealed amongst others that the approaches used by teachers in the lessons observed reflected those suggested in mathematics curriculum and th...
High School Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices of Mathematics Curriculum in Ghana
Education Research International
How do mathematics teachers view about the curriculum can affect their role in classroom activities. In this context, this study examined teachers’ perceptions of the math curriculum for senior high schools in Ghana and their interrelation with classroom practices. Quantitative data were collected from a random sample of 69 mathematics teachers across the senior high schools in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The results of the data showed that the teachers have confidence toward the subject. However, they view math curriculum as a rigid and abstract with more theoretical practices rather than practical connection, which they think is nonrealistic and irrelevant in the current form. Most of the math teachers were not confident about linking the classroom activities to students’ real life. They do not have sufficient knowledge and experience in curriculum design. In this sense, the core mathematics curriculum for Ghanaian senior high schools is not realistic and relevant. Some curriculu...